Wobble drive mechanism



April 24, 1951 E. E. K. SPARMANN WOBBLE DRIVE MECHANISM Filed Aug. 2, 1948 Patented Apr. 24, 1951 OFFICE WVOBBLE DRIVE MECHANISM Edmund Ernst Karl Sparmann, Stockholm, Sweden Application August 2, 1948, Serial No. 42,116

In Sweden August 4, 1947 8 Claims.

' The present invention relates to a combined guiding and anchoring means for the wobble,

member in a wobble drive for transferring a reciprocatorymovement to a rotary movement about an engine or system axis being substantially parallel with the path of the reciprocatory movement, or vice versa.

"As is well known, it isof fundamental importance fora satisfactoryoperation that the wobble member, or wobble plate or wobble plate crown, as it is also called, is prevented from participating in the rotation of the engine or system shaft with respect to the engine or system casing'whereas all radii of the wobble plate plane performas viewed in' the longitudinal direction of the engine 'shaftmutually phase-displaced but otherwise equally large angular oscillations about the engine shaft, it being understood, however,; that all points positioned in the wobble'r plate plane, actually will move in lemniscate-like loop "lines'positionedin-a spherical surface.

In; for instance, piston engines which employ the-wobble plate principle for transforming the rectilinear piston movements into a rotating movement about an engine shaft parallel with the paths of the pistons, or vice versa, it is thus indispensable to secure that all connecting joints for the piston movements move in mutually congruent three-dimensional lemniscate paths ifit sh'allbe at all possible to effect a dynamic balancing'of the mass forces set up during operation. Only provided that this theoretical fundamental-recuirement is met, the conditions of acceleration of all reciprocatingmasses (pistons, I

et eetera) will become mutually similar, or equivalent respectively to those occurring in an ordinary planary crank motion having a connecting rod of infinite length. r a

The solutions and arrangements heretofore known for' obtaining this rather complicated lemniscate movement-in 'a definite path have" either been too complicated or they have not been able to withstand the loads and stresses occurring during operation; or else they have' obstructed an appropriate design and dimensioning of other vital elements. j In most cases noregard hasbeen paid to the deformations occurring in everyimachine during operation. "As a consequence, it has hitherto not been possible to'utili ze in practice the great possibilities and'advantag'es which" areobtainable with the aid of the-Wobble plate principle in a correct and appropriate design. in

'The'pre'sent invention constitutes a very simple solutio'n of this fundamental'problem in the de-- sign of wobble drive also meets all practical machine-technical requirements. The invention consists substantially therein that an anchoring link resistive to tenshe and compressive stresses and extending substantially tangential to the wobble plate, is jointedly coupled at 'its'one. end to a point on the wobble plate positioned in the wobble plate planeand at its other end to an anchoring point positioned on a movable engine part which is positively controlled from the engine shaft, said movable engine part compelling said anchoring point to perform such a composite movement With respect to the engine casing as to cause a meridian plane, which passes through the geo-' metrical axis of the system orengine shaft and also through the wobble plate point, to perform for each complete revolution of the engine shaft two complete substantially harmonic oscillations T about the said axis with an angle of deflection of i-fi counted from a mean position, sin 1? being as nearly as possible equal to I 1 -00S oz 1 +cos a where a indicates the angle of inclination between the geometrical axis of the wobble plate and the centre line of the system shaft.

On the accompanying'drawing there is shown a 1 perspective view which schematically illustrates, one of several possible realizations of the inventive idea; it should be noted that in said illustration it has been necessary, in order to obtain 7 a clear and comprehensive representation of the specific features and mode of operation ofthe mechanism, to exaggerate or distort most proportions in respect to normal values, in the first instance the angle of inclination a of the inclined crank pin of the engineer system shaft being exaggerated, and also to arrange and dimension the individual elements of themechanism in a manner which may be less suitable from the point of view of a practical design.

In the said drawing, the system or engine shaft I hasin this instance the shape of a Z inthat" the crank pin 2 is inclined with respect to the axis of rotation of the shaft, the shaft being rotatably mounted with respect to suitable support means such as the engine casing by beating indicated at la. The centre lines of the crank pin and of theengine shaft intersect under an angle a in a point 0 termed the centre of the wobble plate. The plane extending through the point 0 at right angles to the crank pin 2 is termed'the wobble plateplane. In order to be machines, which solution able to illustrate more clearly the outstanding features of the invention, all details, which have no close connection with or no importance for the invention have been left out, so for instance the entire piston movement mechanism including its connecting members, such as ball joints, pivot pins and the like, which in a complete machine arearrang'ed in .thawobble" plate plane at equal radial distances from the wobble plate centre 0. Such piston mechanisms are, however, known per se and may be devised, for in 1 stance, according to the U. S. patent ito Woods No. 2,398,486. In the drawing there has been shown only that point 4 in the wobble pl'ateiplanei is to be pivotally or jointedly anchored or com pled to the point 5 of the movement mechanism.

by means of the swingable anchoring link 455 resistive to tensile and compressive stresses. Said mechanism is compelled to move in a predeter mined path and as shown to the left on the drawing for this purpose" swi'ngably supported onrsomeimmovablepart of. the engine, mosti suitablyron the-"inside of ":the engine casing, by meansof an' intermediate shaft 8 which extends. iniparali'el with: thesystem shaft I; so that the movable anchoring point 5 of" the said m'e'chani'smrmay perform itsrcharacteristicrcomposite? movement in a plane which: extends. perpendic ul'arly to the system shaft Ira-rid preferably passes through. thewobbleplatei centre 0.

Imicase: theenchorihgi point 5 were not movableibut. fixedly connected. to' for: instance" the enginevcasinge the point .4, positionedfon' a radius inzthexwobbleplate plane; would describeparti of azalinerof. intersection between two; spherical surfaces. the" centrexof onezof said. spherical: sur,--'

faces being. the" point: andlthat ofthe'. other. the: point 55: the: first mention-cue spherical: surface" havirigoa .-'radius correspondingttmthe distance "R betweentli'e pointsz09and Qan'd the other spherical. surface 'ai radius equal: ta" the: length" L .of'.. the anchoring link, i. e. equaflz-tozthezdistance between the points and 4. However, as mentioned in the opening paragraphsitzisa fundamental condition for the practical employment of a wobble plate drivathat-thepointA shalldescribe a lemniscate-lilrethreeedimensional loopline of: a certain shapeand magnituda sincefonly inthat case alsoalhother points in the wobble plate. plane,

whichhave the. same distancefrom thewobble pIatecentre 0, wilLmovein. mutually congruent paths. 7

In the drawing ,thepath of sucha movement.

isrin-dicatednby means-ofthe dot-and-dash. loop line-40L. On: account of. the: perspective representation the loop line appears to be unsymmetricaL- but in reality it isfully symmetrical with. equallylarge halves-u lithe. said threedimensional loop -line. isviewed in a. direction whichis parallel with. the systemshaft. I, the.

path of movement 40- ot the point. 4 Willi-appear as a; circle 46-, which=is traced: twice" for each complete engine revolution-in. the same. direction ofa-rotationas thatof: the system shaft: I. Thus, when-rotating the system shaft l" in therdireotion of the-arrowthroug-h onerrevolution the point 4' willenot move along the dotted a-rcuate line 44 betweenrthe2-dead centres 4 and-4! but itwill tr-acezthe entire dot-and.-dash 100p" line. Mt in. thedirection indicatedby means. of thetsmall arrow heads set out along; 'therloop line.-

lt-followstfrom the abovethatipoint 4 willmove bothion: asphericalsurface.having the; radius R: and ther'centre it and: onia cylindrical surface the axis at which extendsin; parallelwith.thersystem;

It thus? follow that a meridian plane which passes through the point 4 will perform two complete'harm'oni'c oscillations about the system shaft Fwit'ii the angular amplitudes i5, when the temrshaft is is rot'ated through one complete revolution;

Thus the anchoring point 5 must perform a harmonic oscillation in a-direction, which is substantially tangential to the wobble plate, and with a corresponding frequency, i. e. a frequenc'ycorresponding to --twicethe number of revolutions of the engine shaft, and furthermoreof such a 26$ magnitude that the radius, which passesthrough the point 6", will make the maximum angular deflections if? if viewed in the direction of the engine shaft. In the embodiment of'the invention disclosedfon the drawing said component of the totalmovem'ent-of'theanchoring point 5 is brought about by arranging "the anchoring point 5 on a sleeve fi rotatably 'ournalled' on 'thecrank pin of a sm'all'crank shaft 1', which extends in parallelwith' the system shaft l and derives from ,'the latter a' movement ofrotation having" twice "the number of revolutions of the'en'gine and preferablyth'e same direction of rotation. The said force or' movement transmission is represented in the drawing fby the' schematically shown chain drives 9 -98 -82 and- 8i'-"-'i8-"1'I'. Obviously,

every (iljllei 'kilid O'f transmission'may be used as long as'thecrankishaft 'l 'obt'ainsitwi e the number o'f:revoiu'ticnsfandithesame direction of rotation-'1asfitrrev system snaftui, and thattheicrank shaft T" and: the intermediate sh'afta obtain the SamET GfI BCt TOIi' andi speed o'f rotation.-

In case poiiitt'v were" to perform: only"th'e' recently" described movement, a consequence would" bethat the p'dirit' 4 *wo'u1'd not" move along the" surface'of a-straight" cylinder'but; on account of the limited lengthL of "the anchoringlink 45', alonga; spherical annular surface having substantially acircular cross se'ction:

In orde'r to? compensate for'the" non-infinite length'of. thean'ch'oring link 55? thereis' forced upon' the point 5, as previously mentioned,-a

. further superposed harmonic' oscillating movement in direction which is substantially tangential to the wobble plate mechanism, also said superposed motion-having a, frequency which corresponds to'twice the number" of revolutions of the engine shaft but being" displaced in phase an angle of suitably about with respect to the first mentioned ha'rmonic" oscillatory motion of thepoint 5, the superposed inovement' being performed alonga distance which: corresponds to L (1'"cos- 'y), where 'L-representsthe length of. the

anchoring: link tfrandtheanglev the "maximum angle of deviation: of: the" anchoring link 45 towards? eachsidein a directionwhich is' parallel With: the "system shaft I when the angular deviation of the anchoring-link is'viewed at'right angles to the 'system shaft.- If the length L of: the" anchoring link 45 is determined so that the angular deviation towardseach direction becomes less h n about 3 Such-"an arrangement is. prac' tically equivalent with a straightguide, so that the path of movement of the point 4 will come to lie on the surface of a straight cylinder in" accordance with the theoretical requirements for of a rocking frame In which is adapted to per form a penduluous movement about an intermediate shaft 8. The intermediate shaft 8 is in; turn rotatably journalled in suitable bearings 8a in the engine casing or in some other immovable part of the machine. As will be clear from the drawing, the intermediate shaft -8 serves at the same time as a transmission member in the force and movement transmission from the system shaft I to the small crank shaft 7, and it has preferably the same direction of rotation as the engine shaft l but twice the number of revolutions of the latter. The intermediate shaft 8 and the crank shaft 1 must have the same direction of rotation and the same number of revolutions in order to avoid disturbing influences .on the kinematics of the movement mechanism, when the rocking frame In oscillates about the intermediate shaft 8.

In the embodiment shown the just mentioned second and superposed oscillatory movement of the point 5 is obtained in a simple manner by providing on the small crank shaft 1 a crank pin 12 which is displaced an angle of 90 with respect to the crank pin that supports the sleeve 6 carrying the point 5, and by making said crank pin 12 slidable in 'a guide 13 which is stationary with respect to the engine casing and other immovable parts of the machine. The longitudinal direction of the said guide should suitably point towards the intermediate shaft '8, which at the same time defines the axis-about which the rocking frame it} performs its oscillating movement in a direction which is suitably tangential to the wobble plate mechanism. Naturally, the oscillatory movement of the rocking frame I0 may be effected also by other means, for instance by means of a connecting rod which is 12 and at the other end to an immovable part of the machine.

As has been mentioned already at the beginning of this specification certain dimensions and proportions have been considerably exaggerated on the drawing in order to obtain a clear representation. In a practical realization the necessary amplitudes of the oscillatory movements become so small that it would be almost impossible to illustrate the functions of the movement mechanism in the small scale required for a patent drawing. On account of the comparatively small amplitudes required it should also in practice be more suitable to use instead of crank shafts eccentric shafts for the guide mechanism for point 5. Since shafts having crank throws and shafts having eccentrics are functionally equivalent it will be understood that the term crank mechanism or the like as hereinafter employed, is used in its generic sense to include all such functionally equivalent devices. Also in other respects pivotally connected at one end to the crank pin v nearly'as' possible equal to 201.

the combined'guiding and anchoring mechanism for a wobble plate may be varied in various-rear spects within the scope of the invention. Thus; the two superposed and mutually phase-displace'd tained by means of two separate crank shafts or eccentric shafts instead of by means of the common crank shaft 1 shown'onthe drawing.

oscillatory movements of point 5 may be ob--' The most characteristic featureof the inven 1' tionis the combination of the swin'gable anchoring link 45 with a movable anchoring point 5," upon which such a motion characteristicforcedby'means of a movement mechanism positively actuated by the engine, that'the wobble plate will perform the theoretically necessary harmonic" oscillatory movement about the system shaft 1 with an'angle of deflection of i-fi, sin 5 beinga's' 1+cos a said oscillatory movement being performed twice for each revolution of the engine shaft and thus with a frequency twice as large as the number of revolutions of the engine.

It should, furthermore, be mentioned that in principle nothing will prevent the provision of more than one guide mechanism for each wobble plate, but such a provision would be unnecessary and would also give rise to a number of practical inconveniences, since the whole system would then be kinematically superdefined, quite apart from the resulting more expensive manufacturing, wherefore it is not recommended to use several of such mechanisms for the anchoring and guiding of one and the same Wobbler plate.

I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with a shaft carrying a wobble plate member inclined at an angle to the axis of rotation of the shaft and support means with respect to which said shaft is rotatably mounted, of a motion producing mechanism carried by said support means for imparting to an actuating element constituting a part of said mechanism two superposed oscillations displaced from each other in phase angle in relation to said support means in a direction substantially tangential to said wobble plate member as viewed in a direction parallel with said axis, means providing a positive connection between said shaft and said mechanism for imparting to said oscillations a frequency twice that of said shaft, and a rigid link articulatedly connecting said actuating element and a place on said wobble plate member in the wobble plane thereof, said link being substantially at a right angle to a radius of said wobble plate member.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said mechanism comprises two coordinated crank mechanisms displaced from each other in phase relation substantially and operatively connected with said shaft to rotate at twice the speed of rotationof the shaft.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which said crank mechanisms are combined in a single unit. 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 14, in which said mechanism includes a rocking frame having a rocking axis about which the swingable end of the rocking frame is swingable in a direction generally tangential to the wobble plate member, one of said crank mechanisms being journalled at the swinging end of said frame and carrying 1a; rotatably moun ed sleeve aconneo ed to said: dink and the other-10f;- :said1 .crankjmeohani ms being constructed; to impose upon said frame-asubstantially harmonic 'Q ci-llation about its;,;rocking 1axis.

5. Apparatus as :set forth in claim 2 in which said mechanism includes arocking frame having a rocking axis substantially parallel with the axis-of :rotation .of said shaft, said crank vmechanismheingiournaled at 'the swinging end of said frame and-the first of ,saidcrank mechanisms zbeng-construeted-to impose upon said frame a substantially harmonic oscillation aboutiits rocking a r-is and the second of said crank mechanisms carrying a rotatably mounted sleeve connected tozsa-id-link.

6;. Apparatus as set forth in claim .5 in which an intermediate shaft provides the rocking .axis for said frame, said intermediate, shaft .being positively driven from the Wobble plate shaft at 20 twice the speed of the latter and means for trans- 8.. Apparatus asset forth in claimb in which.

said, first crank mechanism is journaled on a crank rod anchored to said support IILBSJIS.

EDMUND ERNST KARL. SPABMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PIATEN'IS Number Name Date 1,858,182 Bramson May 10, 1932 236-31518 Sparmann Mar. 8, 1949 

